1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to identification of an abnormality in an analyzer which analyzes a specimen based on optical measurement.
2. Description of the Related Art
An analyzer can analyze a number of specimens at the same time, and further, can analyze many components immediately and accurately. The analyzer is used for various tests such as an immunological test, a biochemical test, and a blood-transfusion test. For example, the analyzer which performs the immunological test includes a reaction system in which the specimen is reacted with a reagent in a reaction vessel, a removal system in which unreacted substances are removed out of the reaction vessel, and a photometry system in which the amount of light emission from an immune complex obtained through reaction between the specimen and each reagent is measured. These systems are arranged on plural turntables, respectively. The analyzer further includes plural dispense/transfer systems which dispense or transfer the specimen, the reagent, or a reaction liquid into each of the systems. The analyzer performs immunological tests for various contents of the analysis (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-83988).
Conventionally, the abnormality of the analyzer has been examined as follows. The analyzer performs a series of analysis processes, which are to be performed on an actual specimen, on a reference specimen with which a known analysis result should be produced, and then it is checked whether the analysis result produced by the analyzer is consistent with the known result. In other words, conventionally, when the analysis result obtained from the actual analysis of the reference specimen is consistent with the known analysis result, an operator of the analyzer determines that the analyzer functions normally whereas when the analysis result obtained from the actual analysis of the reference specimen is inconsistent with the known analysis result, the operator determines that the analyzer functions abnormally.
In the conventional method with the reference specimen, however, the operator can determine that there is an abnormality in the analyzer, but can hardly know which process or system of the analyzer exactly causes the abnormality. Especially, it is difficult to properly identify the abnormality in the analyzer which performs the immunological test, since the analyzer of the kind has a complex configuration in which various factors such as reaction time, a reagent to be used, a system to be used, and a timing to use the system are different depending on the contents of the analysis processes.
Further, conventionally, dispense accuracy of the dispense/transfer system is examined by dispensing the reagent which has predetermined absorbance characteristics into the reaction vessel, and referring to a measurement result obtained through a calorimetric method. The analyzer which performs the immunological test, however, does not include a calorimetric measurement unit. Therefore, to examine the dispense accuracy, the operator needs to perform the calorimetric measurement using a spectral photometer which is not included in the analyzer.